ALIEN - The Silent Dark 'The Lander'

Set on LV-223 in the year 2137 C.E., the stranded crew of a small and seriously damaged lander-class vessel must cope with diminishing supplies, a tyrannical captain and mysteries best left undisturbed.

Let me know what you think with comments and if you enjoyed it, possibly an Upvote as well. :)

It is a gift, never thought about that until you mentioned it, but you're right!! I wrote this in the same mindset as I have for my Main story: I enjoythis forum, the people here, and I wanted to give the membership something with a really good 'feel' of ALIEN, something that calls back upon the feeling and tone of the original 1979 film. :)

As to it being 'Featured', we'll have to wait and see I guess, but it would be nice, I readily admit that! :D

I left that part nebulous as it's a short-story and the more detailed explanation is found in the Main story.

Katherine is a Chimeran, and Chimerans are Biological weapons made for Military and Elite Personal Security (Bodyguards).They are based off Optimized Human DNA but have assorted key aspects and segments of DNA from a variety of other animals and lifeforms native to Earth, as well as wholly synthesized DNA.

They were originally made in direct competitionwith Wetland Industries Synthetics as Biologicals have an enormous edge when it comes to Instinct and Intuition which are vital in combat and threat-assessment.

TY for saying!! For a 'short story' it got much larger than I thought it would!! :)

It's something of an experiment as I've seen many 'tie-in' novels and such for assorted works and franchises over the years, and wanted to try it, and use it to maintain a 'sense of seperation' from the main story to drive character development.

Lovely page turner, should really call this a Prologue as you've tied it directly into your main novel.

Most of the story reads easily with a couple of hiccups in pacing here and there but a further proofing should iron those out.

Page5 end second para, what is 'svoluchs'? Is this a misprint, colloquialism or what..

There are some words that I found within you're first few paragraphs that could do with a bit of revision (mainly as they seem like you've just got hold of a thesaurus and want to try out all the big words there... when writing fiction use the KISS principle(Keep It Simple Stupid).You undoubtedly know what 'olfactory effluvia' is but a casual reader won't necessarily know.) Only your first few paras suffer from this, so it comes across to me that your trying too hard here to impress me the reader.

The rest of your prologue doesn't suffer from this, so the first few paras make it hard for the casual reader to get into the story. I use the casual reader as my viewpoint with fiction as it allows me to read a work without much bias or prejudgement so letting the work's themes and characters 'speak' for themselves.

So my mini-critique of your work is hopefully constructive. If I was a professional editor there'd be quite a bit of red ink but as I'm not I'll happily let it slide.(It's your baby after all!)

I would've sent this as a PM but don't know how on this site, as I feel that this would've been better as a FYEO.

The Main story has a prologue already, and this story ends exactly at a mid-way point in the main story which picks it up from where it leaves off. :) So, I couldn't call it a 'prologue' as it just doesn't qualify as such hence why I call it a 'tie-in' or 'companion' story, I guess describes it best..

Svoluch is a Russian word, derogatory term for 'bastard' particularly 'honorless bastard' or 'worthless bastard'. Say it to a Russian and that's when the knives come out, very seriously.

The Thesaurus-effect...after writing, editing, re-writing...about 2 dozen times (I am NOT kidding on that number) I threw the simple lingo out the door and just focussed on getting the paragraphs done without so many usages of the word 'and' that I'd feel like hanging myself with typewriter ribbon. :D

As for the editing, my main focus was ensuring that assorted story details, time elements, and continuity to the Main story was upheld. Folks forgive bad editing quicker than continuity errors and such. ;)

Lol it's a Russian word? Wow they wouldn't do well in Australia then where calling a good friend an ugly bastard is seen as a compliment.(Amongst friends that is)

Hanging yourself by a typewriter ribbon? What a novel idea... boomtish!

Look forgive the mini-critique I gave, I know the effort that authors invest in their work, hard mental yards and trying to get most things just so. The effort you've made is welcomed and appreciated, I love a good read and the yarn you've spun looks great.

LOL The Kirk 'Khan' Bellow...that will echo on throughout all of time!! :D

Augments are augments, they're Human-Improved, kinda low-end.

Chimerans aren't Human at all, they're an entirely new species that were created unintentionally. :)Humanity wanted a Biological-Based Expendable Asset...ended up being sued for Liberation by their new 'weapon'.That might sound like a joke, but they used the press and global social media to truly devastating effect. It was technically a 'bloodless' war, if one discounts the riots and such amongst humanity who were divided by their own views about the issue.

Yeah, there's some similarities, unavoidable, but the differences are considerably more in number and of greater significance. ;)

There's significantly marked differences in physiognomy between male Chimerans and females, much more so than in Humans, as example. Females were optimized for Spec War and covert ops and such. Males were optimized for Battlefield conditions.

Thank-You very much!!! That is quite a compliment!! :D Glad you enjoyed it!!

It took me a while to find the happy-medium of too-little vs too-much description. It's a tricky balance, and I rely on editing to truly balance it out.

I try to give the reader's 'mental theatre' a good, solid amount of stock to work from, but not to the point of drowning them in details. I've read works like that, and also from ones where barely any descriptions are given, and learned from both.

LOL :D NP. Humor is one of the reasons I love this place!!There IS feline DNA in them, amongst that of about a dozen other species. :D

Thank-You!! I initially had doubts about bringing them in, as they properly belong in one of my Original Realms, but then with the easter-egg linkages with Tyrell, and Weyland's androids, and real-world genetic science and the creation of wholly synthesized DNA...I figured 'why not?'.

I looked at what machines can do, and why a Biological-Based weapon is superior, then looked at how would such be marketted, and it all clicked, especially as it ties in to the overall 'Creation' theme.

I also wanted a Non-Human viewpoint, but didn't want an android in the mix.

Unfortunately I am only two pages in. Real world stuff is full swing now. I really like the set up of the situation and environment and reveal of Katherine- giving clues for the reader to imagine and figure out without coming right out with it. I am way behind but will catch up lol!

Nice read. I enjoyed specially the first part: gritty, uncompromising, a survival story with an unforgiving depiction of human nature that I could see turned into a John Carpenter movie. I liked how the characters acknowledge their surroundings, something missing from the actual prequels. It is just an opinion, but I would keep more of the style of the first half throughout.

Thank-you!! That's a really serious compliment!! I love John Carpenter movies (The Thing, The Fog) !! So I really appreciate what you said!! :D

I triedto keep the tone from the first half, but I'm still a pretty 'amateur-level' writer and I unwillingly/unwittingly lost track of that style when things started progressing beyond a certain point.

I think a 'talent' or 'skill' is like a muscle, it needs time and exercise to build up bigger and stronger, and for right now, I'm a long ways from what I will be able to do in the future.

I'm just glad you enjoyed it!

I wrote it for my fellow ALIEN fans who want the Feel and Tone of ALIEN back again, and gave it my best effort with the limited window of time I had to work on it (Life has it's demands). I hope to come back to it and do a Final Edit version, to fix what was affected by an unfortunately but unavoidably rushed effort.

I'm not sure if you've already covered this, but Im curious as to how A:C has affected your Manticore stories, especially Manticore: Paradise? Did the film force many changes or tie in nicely with the direction you were heading?

Frankly, I'm still pondering that myself. I'm working my way through examination of the link-up details, and there's some really rough edges there as ALIEN: Covenant doesn't really fit with what ALIEN established.

However, ALIEN: Manticore; Paradise will go ahead. The rough parts where congruity and continuity don't match-up can be resolved and smoothed out.

There's a LOT of questions on that world that need to be addressed, and if the studio won't do it, then I will. :) It does and doesn't match-up to the direction I was originally heading in, however it opens some doors for future stories delving even deeper into the dark mystery of the Engineer's presence in the universe.

I am adjusting some small elements and such in ALIEN: Manticore to allow a better 'alignment' with the follow-up story, so the completion and editing time has been unfortunately extended, as well we are in the middle of buying some local businesses, and that's a considerable demand on my time.

BUT I do get a good few hours work in on the story every day. So it will be completed and published. The extension means there will be much more to the story I have to say, so the wait is due to the addition of substance. :)

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